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Larry Fortensky – Elizabeth Taylor's seventh and final husband – speaks out for the first time since the Hollywood icon's death, saying, "I'll always love her." We have the exclusive first video!

"I used to keep in contact with Elizabeth through the telephone once a week or two weeks," says the former construction worker, sitting next to photographs of the Oscar winner. "How's her life going on, how's mine; that's about it."

Looking dramatically worse for wear since he was last seen in the public eye, the 59-year-old Fortensky has gained weight and suffered from memory loss since a 20-foot fall just over a decade ago robbed him of his ability to work. He now lives with his younger sister Donna, 57, who has looked after him for the last few years, cooking and cleaning for him.

Fortensky met Taylor at the Betty Ford Clinic and, after a whirlwind courtship, the two married in 1991 at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. They divorced in 1996, and Larry says after they split he was "kind of miserable."

"It was a natural thing for me and her," he says. "We remained friends forever."

Fortensky says in his last conversation with Taylor before she passed away, "She said she'd be okay. I believed her. I knew she was a fighter." He adds that hearing the news on TV that she had died "crushed me … I couldn't believe it."

While he won't comment directly on the reports that Taylor left him hundreds of thousands of dollars in her will, he does say he, "never had to ask her for any money," but she had a gut feeling about his situation and she "was very generous."